Something More
by Origins Unknown
Summary: Best friends, unaware of their own true feelings for each other, go through life lifting each other up. Can their friends and family get them to see their true feelings?
1. Chapter 1

**_~::_Chapter One_::~_**

A cool summer breeze blows through the town of Port Charles as Elizabeth Webber walks out of the private plane that was chartered specifically to bring her back home. Closing her eyes, she embraces the feel of the wind, swearing that - of all the places she has been - Port Charles's wind would always feel the best against her skin. Unlike anywhere else in the world, this wind brought with it a sense of the past, a sense of belonging, a sense of being home.

"Elizabeth." the voice of her best friend reaches her, eliciting her brightest of smiles to slowly grace her lips.

"Jason." she breathes before opening her eyes, taking him in for a long moment before running down the steps and right into his arms, holding on tightly as the momentum of their collision sends them into a spinning embrace.

"Welcome home." he whispers in her ear when he's able to set her back down on her feet.

"God, its so good to hear you say that." she happily admits, pulling away to look him in the eyes, truly glad to finally be face to face with him again after so long. "Thank you for sending your plane for me."

"What are friends for, right?" he counters, using the words she had always used whenever she did something for him. "Now that you're home, where do you wanna go first?"

"Anywhere, everywhere." she exclaims, walking with him to his waiting motorcycle, readily accepting the helmet when he holds it out to her. "Jake's."

"Hop on." he replies in the simplest of tones, straddling the bike before her and kicking it off the stand once she's securely seated behind him. "You know the drill, scream if you don't like something, okay?"

"What if I do like something?" she counters with a slight smirk, intertwining her fingers at his abdomen.

"Easy." he shrugs. "Scream louder."

Moments after the engine roars to life, Jason speeds off into night, going faster and faster, embracing the rush he feels as he hits every turn sharply. Screaming at the top of her lungs, she laughs into the wind as they drive head long into it. Nothing in the world could ever take the place of the rush of pure freedom she feels on the back of his motorcycle. Nothing.

"So, dish, how have things been since we last spoke?" Elizabeth probes, setting her beer down on the edge of the pool table as Jason racks up the balls.

"You know, we do this every time we see each other and my answers are always the same." Jason points out as he removes the triangle. "Do we really have to go over it again?"

"Yes, we do." she says seriously, leaning over to take the first shot. "So...Emily?"

"Fine."

"Sonny and Carly?"

"Enough said."

"Touche." she laughs softly, standing upright to look for her next shot. "The Spencers?"

"Closer and closer to making me shoot them." Jason says with spite in his words. "Are we done?"

"Almost." she assures, leaning over and taking her next shot. "My Gram?"

"Still hates me."

"The business?"

"The same."

"No new scars I should know about?"

"None." he arches his eyebrow daringly. "Wanna see for yourself?"

"Funny...okay, we're done." she concedes, stepping away from the pool table after missing her shot. "Was that so hard?"

"You always ask the same questions and I always give you the same answers." Jason counters, lining up his first shot. "I just don't see the point of it all."

"I thought you've learnt this by now." she says teasingly, walking over to stand beside him. "There are things about me you'll never understand...best to just accept it."

"Oh, I learnt that a long time ago." he smirks, sinking his shot before standing upright to meet her eye. "The hard way, I might add."

"True." she laughs, watching as he moves to line up his next shot. "I think its time I head home to unpack. I really want it done before morning."

"We're not even done with the game." he points out, gesturing to the pool table.

"Oh, please, we both know you'll win." she counters, looking at him seriously. "You always win."

"You never know." he retorts, helping her into her jacket regardless. "You're getting better."

"Uh-huh, sure." she shakes her head, walking out of the bar with him before taking a deep breath. "God, its good to be back."

"Yeah, it really is." he agrees, handing her the helmet before straddling the bike. "Come on, lets get you home."

Hours later, as she tosses the last empty box to the side, Elizabeth looks around at her newly redecorated apartment, finally feeling like the move was real. She was really back home in Port Charles, living in her old apartment, surrounded by the loving memories of her past and the intriguing prospect of a completely unpredictable future.

After taking a moment to appreciate the new turn her life has taken recently, Elizabeth heads off to bed, curious about what the morning will bring. Finally back in the same town as her best friend and all the people that make up her friends and family, Elizabeth couldn't wait for morning to come. Thus bringing with it a new spin on an old tale.


	2. Chapter 2

**_~::_Chapter Two_::~_**

Walking through the town, Elizabeth takes the time to reacquaint herself with the place she had always called home. At a first glance, it seemed like nothing had really changed, but with a second look she begins to notice the subtle changes throughout town. Stores that have closed down, others that have reopened and even some new places that she has never heard of.

Making her way to the local diner, she finds that its exactly the way she had left it, all the way down to the carving she and Jason had made on one of the tables outside. A soft smile playing at her lips, she gently runs her fingertips along the carving, remembering the very moment they had carved it into the table. Till this day, she's just about certain that Jason had paid Bobbie to let them do that.

_**~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~**_

**_The coldest day of winter the season had seen yet, Jason has her in the courtyard of Kelly's diner, swearing that he would make the most of whatever time she had left in Port Charles while she was still there._**

**_A month prior, she received her acceptance letter to the most prestigious art school known to man, making her departure date from Port Charles inch closer and closer with every passing day. Sending Jason into this sudden need to make every day count._**

**_"No offence, Jason, but what are we doing out here?" Elizabeth looks at him seriously, rubbing her hands up and down her arms, trying to stay warm. "Its freezing cold and, even if the cold doesn't bother you, I'm in desperate need of a cup of piping hot cocoa."_**

**_"We'll go in soon, I promise." he gestures for her to sit down, a slight smile on his face. "Sit down."_**

**_"I'm not gonna be glued to the chair if I do, am I?" she looks at him skeptically, pulling out the chair and slowly sitting down on it._**

**_"You're not gonna be glued to the chair." he chuckles, pulling out a chair and sitting down. "Do you remember the last time we did this?"_**

**_"You mean, spending the coldest winter day outside, instead of indoors in front of a nice hot fire like the rest of society?" she counters, laughing softly before shaking her head. "Yeah, I remember...I dared you to carve something into the table and you told me that it was vandalism."_**

**_"I've changed my mind." he admits, pulling out his pocket knife and setting it on the table. "Do you still want to?"_**

**_"What made you change your mind?" she questions, looking at him intently, trying to figure out why he'd change his mind now. "You seemed pretty adamant about not doing it to Bobbie's table."_**

**_"I have my reasons." Jason gives as his explanation, not elaborating any further. "What should we carve?"_**

**_"I thought you'd never ask." she smiles softly, pulling out her pen and making a rough sketch on the face of the table. "Think you can do it?"_**

**_"I'll manage."_**

**_Resting her head on her folded arms in front of her, Elizabeth watches as he carves the engraving into the wooden table, a dream like smile on her lips as she sees her carving come to life. A somewhat permanent reminder of that day, sitting in the cold winter atmosphere, doing what no one else would do, like always._**

**_"What do you think?" he asked once he was done with the carving, looking up to see tears welling up in her eyes._**

**_"Its perfect." she assures, running her fingers over the carving of his motorcycle, as well as the words THE WIND carved above it. "Absolutely perfect...thank you."_**

**_~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~ :: ~_**

Shaking her head, Elizabeth takes a deep breath before walking away from the table, her stomach making it almost impossible to think of much else besides breakfast. She had barely made it through the door before she heard the most familiar of greetings coming from behind the counter.

"Well, look at what the summer breeze blew in." Emily Quartermaine sets a cup down on the counter. "I always knew the wind would pick you up and carry you away one day."

"Ha, ha, funny." Elizabeth shakes her head, sliding onto the stool across the counter from her. "You know, I honestly didn't believe Jason when he told me that you bought the place from the Spencers. It just didn't seem like something you'd do."

"I can hardly believe it either." Emily smiles slightly, pouring her a cup of coffee, sliding over the cream and sugar. "Its just that Bobbie didn't have much time for the diner anymore and Luke couldn't stand running it for longer than a couple days...one thing lead to another and here I am."

"Its actually quite becoming." Elizabeth admits, not having seen her so happy about a career choice the way she is about the diner. "I'm glad you were able to take over the diner. I'd hate to think what this place would be like if someone else had gotten their hands on it."

"You're telling me." Emily agrees, waving over at the customer that walked in before gesturing for one of the waitresses to tend to the new patron. "You look hungry...want your usual?"

"Sure." she shakes her head, taking a sip of her coffee. "Sounds good."

Watching Emily hand back her order, she couldn't help but wonder how her other friends have been, how life has treated them. Getting to talking about the plans that Emily has to update the diner, bringing it into the new age of technology, Elizabeth could see that she was truly happy.

They go from talk of the diner to talk of the Quatermaines, how hard it had been for them to accept she wouldn't be a doctor, but accepting that she had to do what made her happy. Edward was the first to be convinced, however, playing the card of creating a business from the ground up, starting with Kelly's. Just like the Quartermaines did when they built ELQ from the ground up.

"I should get going." Elizabeth sadly admits, rising to her feet as she pays for her food. "I have to pick up my employee packet from the art gallery."

"Well, don't be a stranger." Emily smiles, walking out from behind the counter. "As far as I'm concerned, you've done enough of that over the years."

"I know." she admits, glancing outside before looking at Emily. "Hey, do you think I can have one of the tables outside?"

"Sure." she shrugs, surprised by the question. "But why? Almost all of them have some kind of carving on it. Others, well, I don't even want to consider what they have stuck under them."

"I know." she laughs softly. "I just need one for my place."

"What's mine is yours." Emily says simply. "I'll just take one of the tables from the storage room to fill its place."

"Great, thanks."

Saying goodbye to her friend, Elizabeth walks outside to the table with her and Jason's carving, closing it up before carrying it with her back to her apartment. She figured she still had some time before the gallery closes, it wouldn't hurt to set it up at her place before taking her car to pick up the paperwork.

"Perfect." she whispers, stepping back to see her little set up. "Now I just need a couple chairs and I'll have a dining area."

Grabbing her jacket, Elizabeth heads back out into the town to pick up the employee packet from the gallery before going to the hardware store to purchase some chairs for her table. While she's at it, she might as well pick up some paint to redo her walls. From the look of it, her apartment wouldn't hurt with a new coat of paint and some images along the wall.


	3. Chapter 3

**_~::_Chapter Three_::~_**

The morning starts off like any other morning for him, a quick shower, more than a couple cups of coffee, and a short bike ride to the warehouse to handle whatever needed to be handled. Making it into the office, Jason gets the coffee maker running, needing more coffee to get through the day.

With the smell of coffee brewing floating through the air, he pulls out the books that needed to be balanced, knowing he couldn't put it off any longer. It was bad enough that he needed to supervise the various shipments over the next two weeks, he didn't have any time to put them off anymore.

"Come in." Jason calls out when there's a knock at the door, looking up when the door opens and in walks Sonny. "Hey, I thought you had something to do with Carly and the boys."

"I do, I just thought I'd check in." Sonny says simply, shutting the door behind him. "So...how're things going?"

"Things are fine." Jason assures, gesturing for him to take a seat. "What's this really about?"

"Okay, okay." Sonny sits down across from him. "Carly wanted me to find out how you're doing now that Elizabeth is back."

"Tell Carly she has better things to focus on other than my personal life." Jason says seriously, punching in a few numbers into the calculator before jotting down a new set of numbers into the book. "She's back. End of story."

"You gotta give her a break." Sonny insists. "You know how she gets when she thinks you're going to start dating."

"Elizabeth and I are just friends." Jason looks at him plainly. "We have been for the last nine years."

"Just friends?" Sonny looks at him curiously. "You sure about that?"

"You know, sometimes you're worse than Carly." Jason comments, returning his focus to the books. "We're friends...best friends, at that...but nothing more. Now, if you're done minding my business, I have work to do. Unless you want to be the one to handle balancing the warehouse books."

"No, no, numbers are your thing." Sonny rises to his feet, straightening his coat before giving Jason a nod. "I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you find any anomalies that I should know about."

Waiting for Sonny to walk out of the office, shutting the door behind him, Jason dives back into the books, needing to make sure that there weren't any discrepancies in the numbers. With more shipments docking over the next couple weeks, the business couldn't handle anyone skimming off the merchandise.

Minutes turn into hours and by the time he's finished balancing the books, the time on the clock tells him that its closing in on lunch time. Of course, the growl of his stomach kind of gave that away before he looked at the clock. Locking up the books, Jason rises to his feet, sliding into his jacket before heading out of the office.

"Hey, Jase." Francis, one of the top guards, greet him as he keeps an eye on the off loading of today's shipment. "I heard Liz got back last night. She must be happy to be back home after being away for so long."

"Yeah. We went straight to Jake's when she landed." Jason concedes, watching as the men loaded part of the shipment onto the freight elevator to be taken to the vault. "I'm gonna need you to bring up the shipment logs for the last three months. I just got the books balanced and I want to cross reference your logs with the logs in my office."

"Sure thing." Francis assures, ordering the men to bring the coffee shipment to the loading bay to have them loaded onto the delivery trucks. "I'll have them up there by the time you get back."

"I should be gone for a few hours." Jason concedes, turning away from the men working on the shipment. "Call my cell if anything."

"You got it."

Walking out of the warehouse, Jason makes his way to his bike, straddling it before driving off into the town. The mention of Elizabeth gave him the idea of having lunch at her place, a true curiosity on how her place turned out after she unpacked all her things.

Making a quick stop at Kelly's to pick up some lunch for both of them, he heads off in the direction of her place, hoping that she would be hungry when he gets there. More so, that she'll be home when he gets to her place.

"Whoa, what happened?" Jason asks her when she lets him into her apartment. "It looks like the hardware store threw up in here."

"Make your jokes." Elizabeth says plainly, putting the food down on the tarp covered table. "You're gonna eat your words when I'm finished."

"Sure." he laughs softly, pulling up a chair and sitting down. "Got any drinks in this place?"

"Of course not, Jason." she says sarcastically. "When I get thirsty I just swallow my own spit."

"Gross." Jason looks at her with a scrunched up face. "No wonder your immune system is shot to hell."

"Oh, shut up." she rolls her eyes, walking over to her fridge. "Soda or beer?"

"Soda...I still have to work later." Jason concedes, popping open the containers. "So, what are you doing to the walls?"

"Just trying to liven it up a bit." she admits, plopping down on a chair across from him after giving him his drink. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to paint some images of my favorite places along each wall."

"Need any help?" he offers, taking a large bite out of his food. "I've got some time before I have to head back to work."

"Sure." she shakes her head, knowing just how much work she had ahead of her before she finishes her apartment. "I could definitely use the help."

"Good." he replies before a thought pops into his head. "You know, Sonny and Carly have this crazy idea that now that you're back we're gonna magically start dating."

"What?" she blurts out, almost choking on her soda when the words escape his lips. "They can't be serious...me and you...yeah, right."

"I know. I couldn't believe my ears when Sonny even suggested it." Jason shakes his head, glad that they were on the same page. "Those two seriously need a new hobby."

"Yeah...they really do. Either that or they really need to get laid." Elizabeth agrees, rising to her feet. "Anyway...while I get started on that wall over there, I'm gonna need you to stir up the different paints for me, okay?"

"Sure."

Watching her as she moves to pick up her paint brush, he could still see her silently laughing, realizing that she found the idea of them dating as ridiculous as he had found it. What he has with Elizabeth is unlike anything he has with anyone else. They never have to sensor anything they have to say, always free to do as they please around each other.

The simple thought of them ever crossing that line, going from friendship into something more physical, wasn't even comprehensible. What they have now is something he'd never risk and crossing that line would definitely risk it. So, rising to his feet, he walks over and pops open the containers of paint, picking up the stick to start stirring.

Hours later, Elizabeth and Jason decide to take a break from painting, finding themselves covered completely in paint. Halfway through their casual work mode, Elizabeth had accidentally hit Jason with a few drops of paint, starting a paint war between the two best friends.

"Great, now I need to go get cleaned up at my penthouse before heading to work." Jason looks down at himself, his t-shirt completely multi-colored.

"I've got a pair of your clothes somewhere around here." Elizabeth admits, walking over to one of the boxes. "I don't know if you can still fit it, though, its from your last visit while I was still in college."

"I'm sure I'll manage." Jason walks over to her. "Seeing as the last time I visited you at college was your graduation day. Which was just a couple months ago."

"Oh, right." she laughs softly, pulling out the t-shirt and jeans. "Well, there you go."

"Thanks."

Elizabeth waits for him to walk into the shower before she walks over to her desk to pull out the photo album of her and Jason over the years. A lot of the pictures had to be candid, of course, seeing as Jason wasn't one to willingly take pictures. Who would have thought that candid pictures of them would look so great, though.

"Me and Jason." she laughs softly, shaking her head as she flipped through the pictures. "Not in this lifetime."

Every picture portrayed two best friends, which is exactly what they are, best friends. What she shares with Jason is unlike anything she shares with anyone else. Of all the people in all the world, he understands and accepts her completely. Never expecting more than she can give and always giving more than she asks for. Just like she does for him.

She always believed that every girl deserved a best friend like Jason and that's what she has. There was no way she'd risk what she has with him on the off chance that it may work. Not for anything in the world. They're friends. Best friends. That's it.


	4. Chapter 4

**_~::_Chapter Four_::~_**

What she wouldn't give to go back to this morning and slap herself silly for even considering the stupid idea of putting herself through this. Sitting at her gram's table, having tea with her and Sarah, she swears that she will literally lose her mind if she didn't get out of there and fast. Why she had believed that their years apart would change the women's perspective on her life is beyond her.

"Wow, would you look at the time?" Elizabeth rises to her feet, an apologetic smile on her face. "As fun as this has been, I should really get going before I'm late."

"Late for what, dear?" her gram counters, inadvertently forcing Elizabeth to come up with some kind of lie.

"Yeah, Lizzie." Sarah adds with a slight smirk. "What are you late for?"

"What am I late for?" Elizabeth wracks her brain for something, any kind of excuse that'll get her out of there. "A meeting with my boss to go over my duties before I start work tomorrow."

Silence falls over them, making her wonder if they'd believe her, quickly being relieved when her Gram rises to her feet and hugs her goodbye. Her sister, on the other hand, rises to her feet with the intent on walking her out to her car. Telling their grandmother that she'd be right back, Sarah walks outside with Elizabeth.

"Meeting with your boss, huh?" Sarah questions with an arched eyebrow when they make it to her car.

"Yeah." Elizabeth says simply. "What? Don't believe me?"

"No." Sarah shrugs. "But that's beside the point."

"What is the point?"

"More of an inquiry." Sarah smiles slightly, prompting Elizabeth to feel more than a little nervous. "How's Jason doing now that you're back?"

"He's okay." Elizabeth looks at her curiously. "Why do you care?"

"Oh, screw it." Sarah shakes her head. "Are you two dating yet or not?"

"What?" Elizabeth felt like getting a cup of water, drinking some and then spitting it out for emphasis. "Have you been talking to Sonny and Carly? Why do people think that me being back means that I'm gonna date Jason?"

"Give it up, little sister." Sarah laughs softly. "We all know that the only reason you're back in this town is because Jason's here."

"That's not true." Elizabeth says seriously. "Sure, he's part of the reason, a big part, but he's not the only reason."

"Oh, right, because a job at a local two-bit gallery is a lot better than the offer you got from a world renowned gallery in Italy." Sarah counters with a smirk. "Admit it. The only reason you didn't go for the job in Italy is because you wanted to be closer to Jason."

"Goodbye, Sarah." Elizabeth pulls open her door, only for Sarah to stop her from closing it. "Move."

"Whether you want to believe it or not, Lizzie, you want that man. Not that anyone can blame you." Sarah releases her hold on the door. "I mean, come on, when was the last time you had a boyfriend, let alone went out on a date?"

"Why are you so interested in my love life all of a sudden?" Elizabeth counters, eyeing her intently. "Who I date or don't date is my business."

"So, you have been on a date, then?"

"Goodbye, Sarah." she states, shutting her door before starting up her car. "Go back in before Gram comes out looking for you."

"I rest my case." Sarah counters, knowing that she was getting to her sister. "Stop beating around the bush and just go for it. You'll be a lot happier when you do, trust me."

Shaking her head, Elizabeth puts her car in reverse before driving away from her gram's house, swearing that she will never make that mistake again, not with both of them at the same time, at least. Driving to her apartment, she pulls into her parking spot when she notices a man sitting on the front steps. Turning off the car, she focuses on his face, a smile spreading over her face before she gets down and runs into his waiting arms.

"Nikolas, what are you doing here?" Elizabeth questions after she pulls away, looking him over. "I thought you were in Greece for the next month."

"I was supposed to be, yeah." he admits, giving her the one over, as well. "Until, of course, I get a phone call from a certain Italian gallery owner informing me that you had turned down the job he had offered you."

"Yeah...sorry." Elizabeth laughs softly. "I just needed to be back home."

"You don't have to explain it to me." he assures, smiling slightly. "In fact, I had been thinking about taking some time off and now I have the perfect reason to. So, thank you."

"You're welcome." she moves to open her door, gesturing for her to come inside. "Its about time you took some time away from your princely duties."

"So I've heard."

The two friends hangout in her apartment for the better half of the next couple hours before Nikolas had to leave, something about having to make sure that his company will be fine while he takes a long overdue vacation. Waiting for him to drive off in his Jag that she loved so much, Elizabeth gets ready to go out for dinner when a knock sounds at her door.

"Don't tell me you forgot something." she calls out, glancing around her living room before making her way to the door. "Oh, Jason, hey!"

"Expecting someone else?" Jason counters, arching his eyebrow curiously. "A boyfriend, maybe?"

"Oh, shut up and come inside." Elizabeth steps aside for him to walk past her before shutting the door. "Nikolas was just here and I thought he might have forgotten something."

"Whatever you say." he says teasingly, dropping the bags onto the table. "You hungry?"

"I can eat." she counters, walking over to the fridge to grab a couple drinks. "Beer or soda?"

"Beer." he says quickly, thankful that he was done for the day. "Is this..."

"Yup." Elizabeth says, seeing that he noticed their table. "I asked Em for it."

"I was wondering where it was." Jason admits as he sets the table. "I was at Kelly's earlier and there was another table in its place."

"What can I say?" Elizabeth shrugs, setting the beer down in front of him before taking her seat. "I was feeling sentimental."

"Of course you were." he says with a shake of his head, opening the containers of food he had brought. "Same ol' Elizabeth."

Watching him for a moment, her sister's words start playing in her head, a feeling spreading through her that she had never felt before, not in regard to Jason, anyway. Strange, how easily the words of others can get you to open your eyes to stuff you had never seen before, had never really wanted to see before. As quickly as the thoughts popped into her head however, Elizabeth banished them away just as quickly, needing them to go away and fast.

"What?" Jason looks at her curiously, confused by her silence and the look he had found in her eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Nothing." she shakes her head, reaching for her spoon. "Its nothing, really."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm just...just thinking." she assures, granting him a soft smile. "Come on, lets eat before it gets cold."

Jason watches her as she starts to eat, something about the way she was acting gave him pause, but he wouldn't point it out right now. Obviously she didn't want him to know the thoughts that are running through her head and he'll accept that for now. A part of him wondered if it had something to do with Nikolas or if it had everything to do with him. Whichever is the case, he just wants her to open up to him, the way she always does, and put his anxiety at ease.


End file.
